In this Expert Insight Interview, Dr. Laura Penn discusses the power of authentic presence in leadership speaking. Dr. Laura Penn is the founder of the Leadership Speaking School, where she trains global leaders and changemakers how to speak in public.
This Expert Insight Interview discusses:
- Why authenticity matters and what it means
- The fact that you can’t “hack” authenticity
- The connection between self-awareness and authenticity
Meaning of Authenticity
“Authenticity” might just be the 2021 buzzword of the year because everybody seems to be throwing it around. We have talked so much about authenticity this year, not only from the perspective of personal development but also marketing, brand identity, company culture, and other aspects of business.
That being said, there is a lot of value in authenticity, and for Dr. Laura, it means laying down one’s armor, having the courage to dance like nobody is watching, and simply “doing you.” It is about not only living and breathing your truth but being OK with it.
Becoming Your Authentic Self
We often find ourselves thinking about how to be more authentic and almost approaching it from a “life hack” point of view. However, you can’t hack authenticity — it is a state of mind, and it responds to your level of personal development.
Ask yourself if you’re ready to lay down your armor and dance like nobody’s watching. Think about what needs to be going on around you for you to feel safe and grounded enough to do those things. When you finally get there, you will feel free.
Being Awake
Self-awareness and confidence to be your authentic self are incredibly liberating. But before you can be your authentic self, you have to be aware of what that means. And that is a difficult journey for people to go on.
People find themselves in different stages of “being awake” throughout their lives. Speaking in front of an audience can give us a real wake-up call, suddenly making us aware of what we’re doing. This often leads to us not being able to recognize ourselves while on stage and feeling bad after a public speaking appearance.
Our Host
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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